Ski map artist James Niehues, the 'Monet of the mountains' (2021) | Hacker News Reader

Ski map artist James Niehues, the 'Monet of the mountains' (2021)

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151 pointsgyomu24 comments

I think it's wrong to mention ski maps without crediting Pierre Novat (1), perhaps the original creator of this style (2) since 1962. But what is more important is that Novat actually took the work of Heinrich Berann (3) for Val d'Isère (4) and amended it that result is what we know as ski maps today.

There is some debate about who was first, Berann or Novat, but either way, this was 40 years before James Niehues from the article even started working in this style.

1. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Novat (FR)

2. http://tropfragile.free.fr/galerie/Photos.html

3. https://www.berann.com/panorama/

4. https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Left-of-the-dashed-line-...

Thank you for this. I think Niehues has been incredibly prolific and successful, but also his marketing of himself as sort of the originator and one true purveyor of this style has been even more successful.

This is from a few years ago. Apparently he retired: https://www.kuer.org/arts-culture-entertainment/2021-10-22/j...

Since I've been skiing this has been how I've experienced all the terrain. His maps just are skiing to me. But, interestingly, with the rise of smartphones/gps apps like Slopes and the late lamented Fatmap have started to move the ski world towards 3d terrain maps and away from these artistic maps.

I have a side project I've been meaning to dust off that translated GPS coordinates to locations on Niehues maps. I got it working reasonably well but the distortions were significant enough that it needs a lot of control points to do the mapping.

(Year added above. Thanks!)

I hope and believe that a screen map can't ever compete with the size of printed maps and the big boards they have on runs.

There's also something functionally superior to having someone who created an aesthetic and standard across ski maps.. someday they'll evolve and we'll have something different, but being able to show up to a new ski mountain and immediately understand the map: it's excellent UX.

The only issue I've ever had with trail maps is my first time at Mammoth. For those who aren't familiar, there is actually a sort of valley between the first set of chair lifts and then the summit, so you can't actually go from say the summit to the top of high five express lift even though it looks like perhaps you can, you have to go around this front ridge then work your way to the top of the high five express lift. On the trail map painting, this ridge is pretty subtle and hard to appreciate without already knowing about it.

I love that route to the summit :)

That lift exit at the top is a blast.

I hate using my phone while snowboarding. Between the cold and the often lack of service the battery sinks like a stone on the slopes to the point where I have to use it sparingly or risk losing communication with other people on the mountain. So risky to pull the phone out on lift too. I've known people who dropped it there and then it's gone forever. Pinch and zoom would suck in the cold too. I'll take the free trailmap I can unfold with my mittons on any day.

Oh, I love paper maps. Snowbird is trying to get rid of the paper maps and it drives me nuts. They still print a few but mostly you can't get them on the mountain. Seems like a totally misguided environmental idea.

Every lift at Snowbird has the map printed on the bar. So you can plan your route on the way up. I agree that when you get lost, that map won't save you, but I think an offline PDF is also fine.

Absolutely not true lol. I dont think any of their lifts have maps on them right now. The maps also arent super helpful at snowbird because the cliffs often come out of nowhere

Wait, really? I haven't been up this season, but it's always been there! I understand removing the printed ones when the bars have them (and the big boards at the top). Is it all just ads now?

None of the bars have anything printed on them now if I remember correctly. I have a pass and have been around 10 times this season. At least they all have footrests unlike alta where they love foot pain

There are dedicated GPS units that are glove operable, leashable, and support topo maps.

OpenStreetMap has ski trails. OsmAnd even has a ski routing engine. Also checkout https://mapcomplete.org/ski

Quick plug for https://pistepal.app/ - that's my own contribution to the space. Features location sharing and nav/directions, and priced lower than the competition yet with perhaps a richer / more focussed feature set. Interested to hear feedback and ideas!

Love everything he's ever done. Phones and skiing don't mix. Dropping a paper trail map off the lift won't ruin your run. Dropping your phone will. Why spend time thinking about wireless, bars of service etc. when you can look at ART to plan your next downhill ADVENTURE???

Being used to European style ski maps, I don’t really understand why you would paint a ski map. A ski map is a map and should convey all the information you need without being overwhelming. I don’t get it why it would show different trees or why the colors need to be natural. A map is a man made thing, nature is outdoors. There is no need to reflect it on the mapy

I appreciate the artwork though.

Context for european style ski maps?

I have no idea what the parent commenter means, but the painted style is common here too (on web, paper, physical signs, …). For example:

https://vcdn.bergfex.at/images/resized/b0/903a185999b85db0_1...

https://vcdn.bergfex.at/images/resized/15/80010a99cadafa15_3...

https://vcdn.bergfex.at/images/resized/b4/df672c7f06a8f7b4_a...

This is so fascinating. I have been snowboarding for at least 15 years and had no idea that this was done by hand. The maps are so clear, specifically when you have multiple mountains with many one-way slopes across them. Next time I mindlessly throw away these art pieces, I will remember “Monet of the mountains”. Also will definitely share this story with someone on the chair lift ride.

I bought the book of his work that was on kickstarter a few years ago, because ski maps are something I've always kind of loved.

Honestly it was a little disappointing -- the maps in the book are just the paintings of the mountains/terrain, no trail/lift/amenity markings, and thumbing threw it for a little while, they all kind of look exactly the same.

I wonder if that’s an artistic decision or a reflection of how the work is split up between the painter and the resorts. But I agree, it’s more interesting to see the finished maps with all the runs and lifts.

Trails and lifts change and get renamed over the years so they aren’t painted by James. They’re added by the ski resort later so in James’s book, he shared his raw paintings not the augmentation done by the resort.

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